Relapse
by lorcheto
Summary: Set after season 2's finale. Harvey hates Mike for betraying him, so he pushes him away, when Mike wants to help him. Unable to handle working at the firm, with his best friend hating him, Mike quits. Also, Mike is a recovering alcoholic and the combination of Harvey's rejection and his grandmother's death causes him to relapse, go to a bar and get into a fight.


**Hey guys! This is my new one-shot about "Suits". I miss this show, and fanfictions are the only thing keeping me sane during the break.**

**Summary: Set after season 2's finale. Harvey hates Mike for betraying him, so he pushes him away, when Mike wants to help him. Unable to handle working at the firm, with his best friend hating him, Mike quits. Also, Mike is a recovering alcoholic and the combination of Harvey's rejection and his grandmother's death causes him to relapse, go to a bar and get into a fight.**

**Hurt/Guilty/Depressed/Drunk Mike, Guilty/Protective Harvey.**

Mike's hands were trembling as he walked towards Harvey's office bringing him another document that could help Harvey win the case that he was working on. Harvey was working on a very difficult merger case, and Mike knew that he could help him. However, he didn't know if the older man would accept his help.

The last couple of days have been hell on earth for Mike. Jessica had saved his job, but left him to fend for himself. Rachel had screwed him and even though she promised she would never tell his secret to anyone, she also said she didn't want to have anything to do with him and had been ignoring him. But the real dagger that pierced Mike's heart was Harvey's coldness and indifference towards him. Every time, when Mike would walk to his office, Harvey would either glare at him, or simply ignore him, and Donna would just snap at him and tell him to go somewhere else.

Today was going to be different. If the older man rejected his help today, he would quit and he would stop bothering him. He reached Donna's cubicle and when she saw him coming, she went out of her cubicle, and stood between him and Harvey's office.

"Do you speak English? I have told you numerous times, he doesn't need your help, he will never need your help ever again.'  
"Donna, you don't know anything."

"I don't give a shit about the things that you want to say. You betrayed me and Harvey. After everything that we have done for you. How could you?"

"It's okay, Donna. Let him in." said Harvey through the intercom.

Donna reluctantly let Mike in and went in with him.

"Close the door behind you."

"Mike, what do you have there?"  
"A..a document. I-it might help you with the case." Said Mike and gave him the document. Harvey took the document and without even looking at it, tossed in the shredder.

"Now…you listen to me you worthless piece of shit. I don't care what happened between you and Jessica. I don't give a damn about why you did what you did. I don't need you, I don't want you anywhere near me. I don't want you breathing the same air as me, but I sucked it up, and let you work here anyway. So the next time you come in here wanting to help me on cases, I will throw you out of the window. Do you understand me? I don't want to have anything to do with you! I never should have hired you in the first place! You were my u mistake…hell my biggest mistake. I wish I never met you. Now get out of my office."

Mike ran out of Harvey's office and restrained himself from crying. He went to his cubicle and picked up the resignation letter that he had prepared in case the man didn't want his help again. He went to Jessica's office and he saw that it was empty. He left his resignation letter on her desk and left.

He rode his bicycle to the nearest bar. He went to the bar and ordered himself a bottle of whiskey. The bottle that he had promised himself to never order again. He knew that once the liquid had been poured into his mouth, he'd be reopening a door, that was better left closed…but he didn't care. His grandmother was dead…the girl he loved wanted nothing to do with him, his best friend hated him….he was all alone. Only alcohol could help sooth his pain, make him forget the misery and feel happy again. He started drinking and nothing else mattered.

Harvey regretted the words he had said to Mike the minute he had said them. He didn't need Donna's glare to tell him that this time he went too far.

"How could you say those things to him? He is upset.'  
"Good, maybe he would stop bothering us…for now."  
"Harvey, even you have to see that you went too far.'  
"I know that Donna, but that is what he understands from. Tough love. Nothing else. I have no other way of getting through to him. He needs to understand that what he did was wrong."  
"Harvey, you know as well as I do that it wasn't Mike's fault. It was Jessica's."

"He should have come to me. He should have told me."

"Harvey…he is an orphan. He is used to handling things himself."  
"I know that. But this time he didn't have to."  
"Ohh, really, Harvey and how was he supposed to know that? Was he supposed to read your mind? Look, I am as mad at him as you are, but you have to admit, that your emotional distancing from people is the reason why he didn't tell you that."  
"Donna, don't psychoanalyze me please. He will be fine. He deserves all the shit that I give him."  
"You didn't have to be so rude. You didn't have to shred his document and you didn't have to yell those things to him."  
"Harvey…Donna…' said a voice from the doorway.

"Jessica." Said Harvey glaring at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought you might want to know, that I just found Mike Ross's letter of resignation on my desk." said Jessica.

"What?"

"I just returned from my deposition and I found this on my desk." said Jessica and gave the resignation letter that she held in her hand to Harvey. "If you need me, I will be in my office." Jessica turned around and left for her office.  
"He quit?! Really?!" Harvey couldn't believe it. He had actually done it this time. Mike had quit because of him.

"Are you happy now?'" asked Donna.

Harvey started dialing Mike's number, but it went straight to voicemail.

"Call Ray. I need to go see him."

Mike was really drunk. He didn't care about anything. He just wanted to keep on drinking and drowning his sorrows.

"Hey…" said Mike, when the bartender pulled the bottle away from him.

"I think you have had enough."

"You are not the judge of that." Said Mike and threw started reaching for the bottle.

"No…really, man, I think you are done. I have called you a cab."

"A cab? Noo, I will ride my bike to my apartment."  
"No way, man. Your bike stays here until you are sober enough to ride it."

"Give me the bottle. I said give it to me."

"No!"

Mike tried to punch the bartender, the bartender in his defense grabbed Mike's hand and threw him on the floor. Mike, however didn't give up. He kept attacking the bartender and then one of the customers stood up, grabbed Mike and tossed him out the window.

"If the bartender doesn't want to give you a drink then that is for good reason, you punk."  
Mike stood up gasping painfully. Even though he felt the sharp pain in his leg, he stood up and attacked the customer. The two were at each other for about 10 minutes and Mike was barely conscious when he heard the police sirens. Great. Now he was going to get arrested for fighting. He felt someone put handcuffs on him, then being put in the backseat of a car. He didn't know if it was the concussion or the fact that he was drunk, but everything was hazy and blurry. He felt himself falling asleep in the police car.

He woke up in a very uncomfortable bed, his head was pounding and his leg was hurt. Where the hell was he? He looked around. He was sitting in jail. Why the hell was he in jail? Ohh, hell, no…not again. Did he really get so drunk again….This is why he shouldn't drink. He always wound up either in the hospital or in the precinct which is why his grandmother had forced him to quit drinking.

" Ohhh, sleeping beauty is awake." Said one of the prisoners.

"Ohh shut up. My head hurts."

"Yeah, I have no doubt about that. You are wasted."

Mike heard voices from the outside that were getting nearer to him.

"I am telling you. He is my client. You had no right to bring him here without contacting me."

" , all due respect he was fighting in a bar nearby. His blood alcohol levels were very high, and we had no choice but to arrest him. He was so drunk he passed out in the car."  
Harvey was right there in front of him. Maybe he had a concussion, and this is why he was seeing things. Harvey would never come for him. Not after what he did.

"Harvey, what are you doing here?"  
"I will deal with you later. First, didn't any of you morons, notice that there is a glass imbedded on his left leg and that he was battered and bruised? No wonder he passed out, he might have concussion. How long was he out?"  
"Well, we were busy… arresting criminals. We don't know... about an hour."  
" This is negligence. You tested his blood alcohol level, but you didn't bother to get him to a doctor!"

"Well, the medic was busy. Plus, if we took every lowlife that started a fight in a bar to a medic we would be without of a job."  
"Lowlife?!"" Harvey was beyond pissed. He wanted to punch the cop in the face for insulting his associate…his brother. "Officer, I will have you know, that this _lowlife _as you call him is one of the smartest people in the world. Let him go! Now!"

It was official. Mike was hallucinating. There was no way in hell that this man, that had basically told him that he hated him, was there defending him. He wasn't sure whether it was the loss of blood from his leg, the fact that he was still drunk, or the possible concussion that he might have suffered after the guy had pushed him into the window. Only this hallucination seemed so real. He could have sworn, he really saw the cop open the door of his cell and Harvey coming to him, helping him up.

"Harvey…."

"Shhh….I need to get that leg and that gash on your head taken care of. And then we are going to have a serious conversation about you getting drunk and starting a fight."

"I can walk on my own…." Said Mike, but he moment he stood up he felt really dizzy and he was thankful to God for the hallucination, that grabbed his arm and started walking with him. "Wow, I must be really bad….if I am hallucinating that you are helping me."

"Mike this isn't a hallucination."

"Yes, it is. You hate me. Why would you help me?"

"Mike, believe me, it isn't a hallucination. I don't hate you."

"Yeah I wish. I betrayed you. You have every right to hate me and you do. You told me you would toss me out of the window."

"Mike…just because I said it doesn't mean I meant it. We will discuss that later, when you are not drunk and you are not bleeding out from a leg wound." Said Harvey and helped Mike to get into the car. After they got in the car, Harvey checked Mike's injuries. They didn't look very bad. The head wound looked superficial, but it was still a head wound, so it could cause of a concussion. They were a few bruises on Mike's torso and definitely some bruised ribs.

The wound that worried Harvey was the leg wound. The glass looked deeply imbedded in the flesh and thanks to the negligence of that cop, the wound could be infected. His worry only grew when he saw that Mike was losing consciousness and sweat, indicating fever was covering his face.

"Ray, drive to the nearest hospital."

About 20 minutes later they were at the hospital, where Mike was placed on a gurney and driven to an exam room.

"What is his name?"

"Michael Ross."

"How old was he?"

"28."

"How long has he been unconscious?"

"He has been in and out for the last 20 minutes."

"Okay, we will be right with you after we are done examining him."

Half an hour later, a doctor came out from Mike's exam room and said:

"Family of Michael Ross?"

"Yes, I am his boss, Harvey Specter."

"Well, Mr. Specter, I am doctor Karen Walsh, Michael's physician. He suffered a mild concussion and a few bruised ribs. Also, he has an infection on the wound on his leg that was caused by the glass, that I would like to keep an eye on. The more serious thing that I am concerned about is his alcohol level, that was very high. Does he have problems with alcohol?"

"Not that I know of. Don't worry, I'll deal with this. How long will he be here?"

"Well, I would like to monitor his concussion and his infection, so will keep him overnight. but he could go home tomorrow."

"Okay. Can I see him?"

"Sure...room 204."

"Thank you doctor."

Harvey opened the door to the room, to see Mike staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I have been better. My head hurts.

"Hey, are sober enough to talk to me?"  
"Harvey….'m so sorry…for being such a disappointment."

"You are not a disappointment…and you certainly don't have my permission to quit and go to a bar and get drunk."

"Harvey, you fired me."

"And since when do you pay attention to everything I say?"

"Since I betrayed you with Jessica."

"Mike, you need to know, that I didn't mean a word I said. I was hurt and I am not sure what hurt me more – the fact that you betrayed me with Jessica, or the fact that you didn't come to me and tell me that she threatened you. So, I am sorry, but not as sorry as you are going to be for the next 2 weeks, when I give you to Louis for getting drunk and arrested."

"Speaking of which…how did you know that I was arrested?"

"Donna called me after you were brought in. You know she has friends everywhere. I would have been there sooner if I wasn't halfway across town in your place looking for you."

"You were looking for me? You were worried about me…"

"Well, no. You quit without my permission. Just because I said I didn't want you anywhere near me, doesn't mean you have permission to quit. Remember, I was the one that hired you. You are _ my _ associate, not Jessica's. You need my permission to quit, and you don't have it. And you certainly don't have permission to get drunk. Why did you get drunk?"

"I don't know…I felt depressed. My grandmother was dead, you didn't speak to me. I just felt like I needed an escape…and I didn't care about the consequences."

"What consequences?"

"I am a recovering alcoholic. I was very bad when I was in high school. I used to drink a lot. Of course, it was partly Trevor's fault. I used to run away from home and go on a bender for days. I skipped school, I would go to bars and would get into a lot of fights. One day one of these fights went really bad and I got stabbed. I spent 3 months in the ICU and after that I decided it was time to quit. I started going to AA meetings and I went to rehab and I was actually doing quite well. And then I got kicked out of school and my grandmother had to go to a retirement home and I almost relapsed…but then I decided that smoking weed would be more harmless than opening that door again. I can't believe it! 10 years of sobriety! Two shitty weeks and I relapse. I am sorry, I would understand if you want to fire me."

"Ohh, you are going to wish I fired you. Tomorrow you start going again to those AA meetings, also you will have daily alcohol tests, you will be working with me in my office and you will be staying in my condo until you are fully recovered."

"Awww, you really care about me."

"No, I don't. I care about me. And I don't want my associate to have a reputation of being an alcoholic. Your reputation reflects poorly on me."

"Liar!"

"I never lie."

"Yeah you do. You said this thing about being hurt when I didn't come to you. And this means that the great Harvey Specter cares about me."

"Ohh, okay, maybe I do! But if you tell someone, I will kick your ass."

"Oh, please, can I please tell Donna?"

"No, definitely not Donna. She will tell everyone. Speaking of Donna, she sends her regards and she wishes you to get well soon."

"Okay. Harvey, I am tired."

"No wonder, you've had a rough day. Go to sleep. I will be here when you wake up."

"Yes, I know you will."

Mike drifted off to a peaceful sleep. It was the most peaceful sleep that he had had in weeks. Maybe he wasn't all alone. He still had Harvey and he still had Donna.

The next time Mike woke up, he thought he was going to die. His head was pounding and his chest and his leg hurt like hell. He was no longer in the hospital. He was lying on a couch in a very familiar apartment. When he sat up he saw a hand passing him two painkillers.

"I thought you could use these." said Harvey.

"Thanks. Harvey…how did I get from the hospital to your apartment?"

"They discharged you this morning. I am not surprised you don't remember. Due to your concussion and your hangover you have been in and out of consciousness all day."

"What time is it?"

"8 pm."

"You mean to tell me that I have been asleep all day?"

"It's okay, the doctor said it was normal. Mike…about Jessica….Listen I know I am tough on you, but…you need to understand that I only do that, because I see how smart you are, and I see that you have what it takes to be an amazing lawyer, and I get really angry when you do stupid mistakes like letting Jessica blackmail you."

"For the last time…she threatened me."

"No, she held a gun to your head. There were 146 options you could have tried and one of them was turning to me."

"I panicked…"

"No, Mike, if she could do it, there are others that could do it too. You see, in this job your opposing counsel will try everything in his power to get you to back off. Do you remember what happened in the mock trial? You let your emotions get the best of you and you lost the case. And this same thing happened here. It's okay to have emotions, you just shouldn't be ruled by them."

"Harvey, I am not ruled by emotions…"

"Oh, really. Let's summarize the events of the last two days. I tell that I don't need you anymore , you quit, you go to a bar, you get really drunk, you start a fight and eventually you wind up in jail and in a hospital! Mike, this has got to stop. I am not saying you have to be cruel. I am simply saying that you have to be tough. The job requires you to be tough. Sometimes I might be hard on you, but I do it to help you. I don't always mean what I say, Mike."

"I really am sorry."  
"I don't need you to apologize, Mike. I just need you to promise me that the next time someone threatens you, you will tell me and I will deal with this. And I am not saying that I will do that, because I think you can't handle it, I am saying that you are not ready for this yet. You were not ready to take on Jessica and this is why you couldn't figure out what to do."

"Speaking of Jessica, how do you think she is going to react when you tell her you are bringing me back."

"Let me handle Jessica. You just need to come with me to Jessica's office to see how to put the big dog in his place."  
The next day Harvey and Mike went to Jessica's office. It wasn't a very big surprise to everyone that Jessica was not happy to see Mike again.

"Harvey, there is no way, I am hiring this fraud again to my firm. Especially since it turned out he is not only a fraud, but an alcoholic."

"Jessica, he is one of the best associates this firm has ever known. He is a great asset."  
"Harvey, he is a fraud. It is bad enough that you hired him once, now you want me to hire him again?! No way."  
"Jessica, I am not asking you to hire him again. I am asking you to approve his rehiring."  
"Sorry, Harvey, request denied."  
"Oh, Jessica, I wasn't going to do this, but apparently, I have to. If you don't approve his rehiring, I will tell everyone what really happened in California, 3 years ago. Do you remember, the Henderson case?" "You wouldn't. I told you that under strict confidentiality. You'd be breaking attorney-client privilege. "  
"Well, technically you weren't my client, we had no contract, so good luck proving that in court. "

"If you do that, then I will definitely send that letter to the district attorney."  
"Ah, no you won't. I made sure that if Mike gets arrested for fraud, you and I go down with him."

Jessica glared at him and nodded in defeat.

"Fine. He can go back in the firm. But Harvey, if he shows up drunk or in any intoxicated state, I will throw him out and not think twice about it."

"Don't worry. I will keep an eye on him."

And Harvey really intended to do that. He wasn't going to let Mike go through another relapse, because he would never let the kid out of his sight again. Now that things were finally back to normal, Harvey was planning on going on the AA meetings with Mike just to make sure that Mike really attended them and for support.

"What really happened in California 3 years ago?" asked Mike looking curiously at his mentor.

"Oh, I can't tell you Mike, I am sorry. It is between me and Jessica."

"Ohh, come on. Did Jessica screw up? Did she do something illegal?"  
"Mike! I can't tell you. It is confidential." "She was your client. You represented her."  
"More like, gave her legal advice and I will say no more. Attorney-client privilege isn't a joke, Mike."

"Ohh come on, you want to tell me."

"Okay, if I tell you, you have to promise not to say anything anyone, because otherwise I could get disbarred, Jessica could go to prison and you would lose your job."

"I promise."  
"Okay, three years ago , Jessica had this client Joseph Henderson, who owned a firm in LA, California ….."

And Harvey continued to tell Mike the story about the leverage that he had on Jessica. Butch and Sundance were back and they were stronger than ever.

**Fin.**

**Okay, that was it. I hope you liked it. **


End file.
